Stage 12: Terror underground.

- "Are you okay with this, kiddo? Maybe we should just go…"

- "No, Amelia. It's been enough, it's something I have to do for them" – At the foot of an improvised grave, little Sandra shed a few tears that mixed with the earth removed from the tomb. Beside this, other graves without a body, with nothing more than a tombstone with an inscribed name, was what left a testimony for the lives of those poor souls who perished years ago.

Sticking her staff into the ground, the little alchemist closed her eyes and chanted a chant similar to the incantations we wizards chanted, with a slight variation in her intonation with each key word.

Raising his staff in the air, waving it in the shape of a crescent, a light irradiated each of the town's buildings, causing the passage of time that had stopped in them, causing them to collapse as their protection was removed. From the remains of the cathedral that were still maintained despite the fire, to the businesses in the square, continuing through the houses. Until reaching the old hut, where the fire in the fireplace remained burning, stone by stone fell. Burying objects that rotted at high speed.

- "All of them are dead, I just kept their bodies alive on a mere whim. The childhood dream of a girl who refused to accept the reality of her sins. It is only fair that the people leave with them, just as it should have been from that day on" – Wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her blouse, her body trembled with impotence as she faced that fact with deep sadness and desolation in her heart.

When I tried to comfort her by putting my hand on her shoulder, she smacked me, shaking her head in disapproval. She didn't want to be sympathetic, she felt she didn't deserve it, but even so, contrary to her wishes, I hugged her from behind even though she tried to get away.

It was there that that innocent creature surrendered in my arms, crying bitterly for more than an hour until his eyes were swollen with tears. Falling fast asleep in my lap, while I sat on the grass of that moor stroking her head to comfort her in her dreams. While between her lips, a slight murmur escaped calling her mother, breaking my heart.

- "Amelia, what will you do with this brat? It's true that I told you that you shouldn't kill her, but I don't think we should take her with us."

- Faust, you better than anyone know the bastard of Asmodeus. Tell me, if I leave her alone, what do you think that wretch will do when he gets his hands on her? You yourself saw how I kill Callisto in cold blood in front of my eyes, you saw him destroy the Medea forest and every soul that lived in it, only for his selfish ends. She will come with us, it is not up for discussion."

- "Amelia! She is an alchemist, the holy church has put a price on the heads of these people. In itself it is a miracle that inquisitors have not already come to this town after Asmodeus was here."

- "Faust, who goes to a cemetery in search of the living? Asmodeus left here thinking that he killed them all. He even left Sandra for dead when he saw that his experiment failed. But you said it yourself, it's a miracle nobody came here out of curiosity. However, miracles don't happen twice and she needs me." – The moment I said that, Fausto's voice stopped chattering. I know he was worried about my well-being, but having Sandra's small body in my arms, with that peaceful expression on her face, I couldn't think of agreeing with that position that seemed so mean to me.

Taking care not to wake him, I held the little alchemist tightly to my chest and covering my face with my hood, I began my journey once more jumping into the air. But this time, without the slightest bit of concern.

The landscape that until recently had been noisy, had been transformed into a place full of the immense greenery of the grass, where only the rubble of the old buildings that succumbed when Sandra withdrew her power could be appreciated. Seeing the magnitude of the vast scenery, I couldn't even imagine how much effort that girl had made with that small body, to keep that town and its people active like a big doll's house.

- "User, I detect an unidentified energy source 500 meters below us" - Turning my gaze towards the ground, in contrast to the collapsed buildings on the grass, a construction stood defiantly at the spectacle of destruction from town.

Driven by my curiosity, I went down to inspect it, finding a metal door that showed the deterioration of rust produced by the passage of time.

- "What are we doing here? Please, I don't want to go in!" – Waking up by the serene breeze close to dusk, the little girl gripped her hands tightly on the hem of my cloak, pulling it with a deep feeling of fear.

- "Sandra, what's wrong with you!"

- "This is the evil man's laboratory!"

- "Calm down Sandra, we are not going in. I promise you" – Even though I had made that promise, the ground under our feet collapsed without giving me time to react. Dropping us to a height of 20 meters, barely giving me time to protect Sandra from the impact with my body.

The rocks of the bed hit my back and my hip, fracturing a couple of ribs making it difficult for me to breathe in the middle of that stale air that came from the caves.

- "Magna Sanitatem" – Putting effort on my chest to pronounce the spell, my body began to heal surrounded by a green aura, while the torches on the walls lit up in response to the flow of mana.

- "Sandra, where are we?"

- "I do not know. I have never been here before"

- "Please, try to remember. You should have been here earlier when that man brought you to his lab."

- "I'm not lying to you! I only entered the building on the surface, but I've never been to this place" – As she said, in the memories I could see while fighting with her, the images did not give any indication of that particular place. Also, there was a genuine sense of uncertainty on her face at being trapped in that place.

Getting up from the floor, brushing the dirt from my clothes, I extended my hand to him and we began to walk through the passageways enveloped by the fetid aroma of decomposing matter. Apparently, the subsoil under the laboratory was destined as a dumping ground for failed test subjects. Corpses of beasts produced with alchemy, they possessed bizarre forms that ranged from mixed animals to humanoid forms that raised the skin just by looking directly at them.

As we advanced through that cave, the torches that illuminated the walls were making a path in the direction of a kind of catacomb whose walls were inlaid with bones of what seemed to be human remains.

- "The parish priest of the town came to tell me that a thousand years ago during a great epidemic, the inhabitants threw the bodies of the infected into a dry well that adjoined the path that leads to the north of the town. These must be those remains I mentioned."

- "That means that we can get out of here if we continue advancing along this route"

- "Yes, there is definitely an exit later" - Holding my hand to keep from falling in the dark, Sandra followed me in the middle of that passage until I felt that we collided with a metal wall.

Unable to discern what it was with my touch, I remembered a spell Edith taught me at some point while we were playing in the caves of the Medea forest dwarf village.

"Parva nocte lux" - A spell that invoked small beings similar to fireflies, illuminated with a weak flickering glow the surface of that metallic object giving it the shape of a door with an inscription engraved in ancient language, of which not even the oracle of the world could give me a reason for its meaning.

- "It's an anagram" - As if attracted by a mysterious force, Sandra placed her fingertips on the inscription engraved on the door, moving the symbols to a position that was understandable to my eyes.

- "To follow your path, you must face your deepest fears" - When I finished pronouncing those words, a dense cloud of smoke that lit up with the glow of my spell, revealed a silhouette that advanced making acrobatic turns.

- "Ho, ho, ho, ho. Oh my, what a sad confusion. After all these years that I have been asleep, I felt the essence of my master, but it seems that it was just two annoying little insects that have sneaked in here" – Dressed in dark-toned leggings fitted to her body, the bare parts of her body revealed seams on her purplish skin that gave off an aroma of sour grapes. His face covered by a smiling jester's mask, showed a menacing glow from the corner of his eyes.

- "Who are you?"

- "No no no. Before asking for a lady's name, it is good practice to introduce yourself first" - Waggling his index finger in disapproval, thrusting his chest forward with one hand on his hip while hitting the heel of his shoe, that sinister being seemed to enjoy the moment as if it were a show.

- "My name is Amelia"

- "Mine is Sandra"

- "We have already answered you, now it is your turn" - Placing my hand on the handle of my sword, I felt how the roots of the trees grew in the form of a vine and roughly held me by the wrists. At the same time they coiled around Sandra's body, compressing her arms making it impossible for her to use her alchemy.

- "You are a rude girl, you should not play with sharp things or you can cut yourself" - In a matter of blinking, that creature appeared right in front of me, bringing its face close to mine, removing its mask to reveal its identity.

- "My name is Angela, guardian of the laboratory of my lord Asmodeus. I am what you would call a homunculus chimera. You know, a doll made with parts from here, others from there. But as you can see, I am a beautifully perfect being" – With a partially disfigured female face, the appearance of that malevolent being perfectly reflected the rottenness of the artificial soul that its creator had imbued in it.

Threateningly putting its hand under my skirt running along my thigh, that abomination dug its claws deep into my skin until it made me bleed, causing me to scream in agony.

- "Marvelous! Sing, sing for me like a beautiful canary. Fill me with joy with those delicious screams that make me feel alive" – Raising its claws to its lips, the chimera licked the blood that dripped from the sharp tips of its hand. As she snapped her fingers to make a glowing scale appear behind her.

- "I don't know how they entered the laboratory without me noticing. But since they are here, I must give them a chance to be able to go out in recognition of their efforts. The ability my creator blessed me with is known as dead man's judgment.

You little cuties will be weighed on this scale that measures the evil within your hearts. I usually only weigh one person at a time and determine who is found to be flawed, but it's been a long time since anyone has visited me. So let's make it more interesting.

As you can see, the two hold the balance in balance. That means their hearts harbor a very similar sin.

So, both will go through the judgment at the same time. You will face your deepest demons in a world of illusion that I will create especially for each of you. They will fight against their darkest secrets and must conquer them.

And here comes the interesting part of the game, if one of the two fails… " – Remaining silent doing a pantomime pretending to put on makeup in front of a mirror, the chimera laughed macabrely, lowering its face.

- "Speaks! What will happen if one of us fails?" – Approaching Sandra to hold her hair and pull it forcefully, Angela materialized a scythe whose blade placed on the alchemist's neck in a threatening manner. Changing the expression of his mask to one with the representation of sadness.

- "If one of you fails, both of you will become part of my personal collection in this cave forever" - Pointing with his index finger in the direction of the wall, a series of flames illuminated the mummified bodies of men and women with their lips sewn together in the form of a smile

- "!Wait!"

- "Enough talk, let the game begin" - Hitting the scythe on the ground, a light enveloped us blinding me completely. To then appear in a setting that was crudely familiar to me.

Far away in the depths of my subconscious, a room with white walls and ceiling lights with an aroma of disinfectant that penetrated my nose. Pulling the curtain in front of me, I quickly realized that Angela had taken a place that brought back the most bitter memories to execute her judgment.

- "Oracle? Splendor? Can you hear me?"

- "Pretty, who are you talking to? I think I told you my name is Angela."

- "Damn liar, where have you brought me?"

- "The right question is not where, but when. Little girl, this world is an illusion that I have created from your memories. If you don't know what this place is, let alone I know. But I must admit that it draws my attention a lot and makes me curious" – With the incandescent lamps flickering, hanging slightly from the ceiling. That place was none other than the hospital where at some point my father had been hospitalized in his last days.

The walls were stained with moisture and there were puddles on the floor as if a pipe had broken, destroying the ceiling lights. Yes, without a doubt it was the same place, but that deterioration gave the impression that it was a completely abandoned hospital.

Without being able to call the oracle or invoke my powers, I took an IV pole to defend myself from any vermin that might come my way.

Stretchers with sheets stained with blood and other bodily fluids were lying on the ground in my path, making it difficult for me to walk without tripping due to the constant lighting failures in the place.

When I got to the access door on the first floor, I tried with all my might to open it by pulling the handles to no avail, getting desperate at times when I realized the intention of that infamous creature.

- "Ho, ho, ho, ho. Honey, the play area is not, as you often say, oh yeah, designed for an outdoor setting. You will find all the fun inside this place, so I recommend you hurry up because there is a time limit per level" - Suddenly through the edges of the door, a viscous substance began to leak, dropping drops on the floor that, upon contact They released a slight smoke as if it were acid.

- "There's damn shit!" – The crystals of the door began to stain a blood red tone while they cracked giving way little by little to the fluid behind it. Making me run while I saw how that sea of viscosity entered that consumed all objects, dissolving them until leaving nothing.

Getting to the elevator, I pressed the buttons trying to open the doors without success, while that ocean of acid approached dangerously making my heart beat as if it were going to come out of my mouth.

Sticking my fingers along the edges, I opened the elevator doors, jumping to the ceiling to remove the trap door that connected to the cube. Escaping just at the moment that the substance reached to brush the sole of my sneakers, forcing me to take them off because the corrosion did not stop.

Heaving a slight sigh of relief, the elevator mechanism kicked in and began to move upwards at full speed, causing me to lie on the roof as I saw that I was about to collapse against the top of the cube.

- "Wow, what reflexes. No doubt you are good at these cute games"

- "Damn psychopath! I swear that when I leave this place I will erase that smile from your face" - After cursing Angela, I dragged myself to the ceiling hatch and dropped on the elevator floor, instantly feeling like the residue of acid slime they burned my skin making me jump out of the elevator.

Unable to get on the soles of my feet, I ended up leaning against the walls, dragging my body until I collided with a sign indicating that I was on the fifth floor of the hospital.

On that floor, one part of the lighting was seen in a crimson hue while the other was presented as normal. But just like on the first floor, decay on the walls and flickering lights were prevalent giving a gloomy look. Which harmonized with the sound of the heart rate monitors going off with the flatline alarm.

With my feet bruised and some of my clothing dissolved by the acid, I dragged myself to the nurses' bay looking for a first aid kit to bandage my feet and a change of clothes that I took from the lockers.

Taking a look at a map that was on the wall, I could see that floor was the maternity area. Just when I was about to turn around to continue my search, I looked again on the map and could see how a bloody circle was drawn in the west wing.

I had no doubt, that chimera was trying to take me to that location. For a moment I thought about the possibility of a trap, but with no other option being trapped in that world, the only thing left was to continue until I found a way to get out of there.

Walking dragging my feet, leaving a trail of blood with each step I took, the pain kept me attentive to the sounds that my ears picked up from the chaotic environment of that floor. The incessant noise of the collapsed vital monitors becoming annoying at times.

- "Nurse, where is my baby?" – An ominous sensation ran through me from the lower part of my back to the nape of my neck, the moment I heard that voice that seemed distant from me just a few steps away.

Trying not to turn around and continue on my way, that woman's voice became more and more repetitive as I listened to the sound of her slippers hitting the ground, which gradually grew faster, forcing me to take a look. Giving a scream that echoed through the walls of the hospital, when I realized that that woman was wearing a gown that left her back uncovered and on it, you could see the seam marks that are usually made on corpses for autopsies.

Running after me with a ghostly expression on her face, the woman snarled like a dog about to snap its teeth at a cat that has snuck into her backyard.

- "Run precious, run for your life. Escape from all of them

- "All of them? Wait, I only see one" – Taking a look once more, a sea of bloodthirsty corpses followed my steps chattering their teeth making my blood run cold.

- "Son of a bitch!" – As I was throwing the objects in my way to block their way, I hastened my footsteps despite the fact that the pain became unbearable, almost causing me to stumble at times. Getting to the room that I saw marked on the map, closing the door behind me, barring it with one of the furniture that was in that place.

With those monsters pounding on the door pushing to enter, my heart beat faster and faster with each scream that I heard almost snorting on the back of my neck. Making me go straight to the window without being able to open it like the first floor door.

- "Tick, knock, tick, knock. The hands of the clock go off, the children must brush their teeth and say their prayers."

- "Are you having fun with this?"

- "Of course! It is the first time that I make such a fun scenario and it is thanks to you little one. But I think this game is going to end sooner than expected" – Breaking part of the door planks, the hands of the dead began to sneak in looking to catch me while I pushed more objects that prevented them from entering the room.

- "Oh well. I really don't want the game to end so quickly. So I'll give you a clue: Children when sleeping, they will hear strange noises. Fearful without their mother, they will look for a safe place" – That confusing riddle came to seem like a bloody joke on Angela's part, while time continued to flow with the dead pushing the door more and more. Making me fall hitting my face against the ground , in the process giving me a bite to my left arm that tore off part of the muscle. It was then that, seeing it, I understood what Angela meant with that riddle.

Crawling across the floor staining my clothes with the blood that spilled from my wound, I reached a hole under the bed and dropped my body just at the moment the barricade gave way, allowing the room to fill with a sea of corpses that They destroyed everything in their path.

Feeling as if my shoulder had been dislocated, I leaned against the wall of that room on the fourth floor, which was full of dust and clinical documents scattered on the floor.

Putting on a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, my attention was drawn to a document whose name made me gnash my teeth with rage. To the point that I hit the ground with my fists until my knuckles bled.

- "What are you up to, damn? How far can you pretend to give rein to your petty games? – Unlike the other times, this time Angela remained silent. As if he was holding back the urge to play with my emotions once more.

- "The game is about to end. As soon as you open the door of that room, you will face your judgment; get ready, because only those who are worthy of the truth will be able to pass the test" – Angela's mocking voice had changed to a more sober tone, as if she was taking her job very seriously at that crucial moment.

Rising once more with all the pain in my body, I dragged my left leg across the ground unable to support it properly. Feeling how the rubble from the floor dug like sharp pebbles into the sole of my right foot, making me let out moans that I repressed by biting my lip.

Little by little, as I got closer to the door handle, my heartbeat resonated more strongly in my chest to the point of being the only sound my ears could hear in that room.

Gulping in some air, I closed my eyes as I turned the doorknob and entered the next room on the other side. And when I opened them, I couldn't help but shed my tears as I contemplated the image before me.

Lying on a bed that was slightly reclined, with a catheter that passed through his left clavicle, supplying medication directly to his spleen. A man was looking at a photo with a look of sadness in his eyes already clouded with pain.

- "Maybe I wasn't a good enough man for you, but our daughters didn't matter to you either?" – That face full of nostalgia that evoked a warm past, when I saw it I couldn't help but cry bitterly to the point that I couldn't control my nerves. Trying to make me listen, but unable to get that man to turn to see me.

Takehito Yoshida , third generation son of a Japanese couple who immigrated to the United States at the end of World War II. It was the name of that man who was bedridden in that hospital, that man was my father.

As if it were a movie, the succession of images of that scene passed before my eyes unable to move a single inch to hug him.

Day by day, it went by in fast motion as if rewinding an old VHS movie. Watching each person go in and out of that room, leaving only my father as a constant, giving signs of the progress of his organic deterioration due to the cancer that was consuming his body.

His skin dried out, revealing light bruises on the surface that would not fade, while the whites of his eyes turned amber and the pupils moved erratically.

Grade IV hepatocarcinoma, an extremely aggressive cancer with the body, which little by little deteriorated my father's health until turning that wonderful man into a defenseless being who could not fend for himself.

Before he was admitted to the hospital, my father used to have moments when his temper would turn irritable when he got home. Coming to think at times that it was because he had had a bad day at work and the burden of our mother's abandonment, I did not realize that the man in front of me was beginning to die.

Suddenly, the scenes returned to their normal speed and only in the room, two people were illuminated by the light of a lamp that was on the wall above the hospital bed.

Accompanying the bedridden man, a young teenager was holding his hand as she gently caressed his skin, keeping his face down as if evoking a prayer, shedding tears on the sheets. That girl was me, my old self who stayed several nights in the hospital while Akemi was taken care of by a neighbor from our apartment.

The expression on my face looked tired, the dark circles were marked deeply over my eyes making me look like a living dead. And my hair looked greasy, looking like I hadn't washed it in three nights.

Yes, that girl who became a human wreck was me, who stood firm next to a bed looking for hope, a miracle that would allow that nightmare to end and wake up as if it were all a bad dream.

But the days passed and that nightmare worsened instead of ending, taking me into a trance that made me go through madness while I drank the coffee in the waiting room, burning my throat to stay awake.

My periods became irregular and my temper worsened, to the point that I got into a fight with the nurses to the point that I was about to be kicked out of the hospital. That time was an extreme situation in my life, where I thought at times about giving up and letting myself die.

It was that night, I remember it well. When the nurse arrived and left the medication on the nightstand telling me that I had to give it to my father in an hour. My eyes were closing, I could barely stay awake, just nodding my head without saying a single word.

I don't know if it was an oversight by the nurse, I will never know if it was intentional, what I do know is that the moment I gave my father the medicine, that warm summer night would mark my life forever.

After giving him the medicine, sleepiness overcame me and I fell asleep on the couch in the bedroom, barely closing my eyes when suddenly my father's vital signs monitor began to beep rapidly in alarm.

It was a matter of seconds, he did not give time for a doctor to do something for him; When the clock marked three o'clock in the morning, my father closed his eyes for the last time.

- "So you gave that medicine to your father?"

- "Yes, I did, but…"

- "So you killed your father"

- "No! I didn't kill him! I only gave him the medicine that the nurse gave me."

- "But you checked the medicines up to two times before giving them to them. Why not this time?"

- "I was sleepy, I had not slept well." – Angela's voice drilled into my mind, making me fall to my knees, bringing my hands to my head, trying to pull my hair out of frustration while her incessant claims were repeated over and over again.

When I was about to raise my face, I heard a couple of clumsy footsteps that dragged my feet on the cold floor of the hospital room. As I directed my gaze to that blurred silhouette, a hand grabbed me furiously by the neck, making me gag in pain as I choked on my saliva.

- "You killed me!"

- "Dad?" - My eyes were horrified to see him, that man who squeezed my neck hard trying to break it was none other than my father. With that deteriorated body, the strength that he printed in his fingers did not match his emaciated appearance.

- "Faust! Splendor! Help me"

- "I told you little one, this trial is personal. No one will be able to help you free him, only you" – Scratching my father's hands, I felt like I was beginning to lack air and my vision was cloudy at times. Not being able to even utter a single word as the strength left my body.

- "Is this your world?" – Suddenly, the voice of a young woman resounded in my ears, with a muffled tone as if she had given up fighting a long time ago.

As I turned my gaze to the end of the room, a young lady in a baroque-looking dress with long dark reddish-looking hair had a melancholy look on her face as she approached my father and me.

- "Did your father hate you like mine?"

- "No! My father never hated me."

- "Then why are you doubting in your heart?"

- "Dude?" – The moment I understood those words, the strength of my father's grip began to loosen, releasing my sore neck a bit. As his eyes, blinded by anger, changed to the kind and loving look he remembered.

- "He never hated me, but I was a bad daughter"

- "You say you were mean to him, but you stayed by his side until his death"

- "It was my fault, he died because of me" - Shouting those words while crying inconsolably, the memory that I had repressed pierced my heart like a rusty sword that sliced through every fiber of my being. Feeling the force of my father on my neck again, experiencing how the bones of the vertebrae broke little by little.

Taking the photo that was on the bed, that lady returned once more to our side and put the image in front of us, feeling how my father released my neck letting me fall on the floor.

- "She is your mother?"

- "If it is. If I can call him that way for having abandoned us."

- "What did your father do when I left you?" – Returning to my repressed memories, the diffuse memories of the nights in which I waited for my father to return, little by little they became clearer, leaving aside the memories of the reality that upset me.

My father came in at night, but he came in at times smelling of liquor. Going from light escapes after work, to finish, wasting away in a career with alcoholism.

- "Yo, I'm sorry Hitomi. It was my fault" – Babbling torpidly on his lips, that man collapsed on the ground with the expression on his face again in what at some point I knew as father.

- "Dad! It wasn't your fault, it was mine. If only I had been a better daughter, if I had been more for you"

- "Hitomi, you were a girl. A helpless girl who had to learn to deal with a weak-willed man."

- "Don't say that father! You were always a strong man, you were the kind of man I dreamed of meeting and marrying." – Taking him by the hand, my father began to cry with sadness when he saw my injured face, taking his thick left hand to my cheek to caress me.

- "I know that your illness was not my fault, father. But I made the mistake that killed you that night" – The young woman who remained a spectator in front of us, took off the gloves that covered her arms, revealing the marks of the cuts that rested on the skin of her wrists.

- "Yours was an accident, nobody can blame you. But mine, this was my decision, the mistake I made" – The moment I saw those wounds, I could recognize the face of the lady who was next to me. She was Amelia, who had in her eyes the pity caused by having taken her own life.

- "Leave your faults behind, I will take them for you. Live for me, be happy for both of us" – Giving me a kiss on the forehead, Amelia walked to the door of the room, while a mysterious fire began to burn in the door frame.

- "What are you doing, Amelia? Stop don't go"

- "She never had the intention of letting you and your friend go free"

- "Please, stop. I beg you, we can get out of this together" - Leaning her face a little on his shoulder, closing her eyes outlining a smile. Amelia gave me one last look with tears in her eyes, throwing herself into the fire that began to consume her as the room was destroyed. Bringing me back to reality with it.

Destroying the balance that imprisoned both Sandra and me, before Angela's angry look. Who slammed his scythe into the ground revealing cracks where a flow of magma was escalating that heated the rocks in the grotto.

- "I don't know how you managed to escape from my trap! But your friend will never wake up, unless you defeat me" - Grinding her teeth while tearing off her mask to destroy it with a stomp on the ground, the expression on Angela's face seemed that of a demon that coveted to devour the souls in front of her .

- "So I just have to defeat you? It seems perfect to me" – Unsheathing my sword pointing the tip in the direction of the chimera's face, I smiled defiantly, provoking my opponent's anger. Who without giving me time to move, threw himself with a destructive fury, brandishing the blade of his scythe splitting the rocks of the cave.